Here is a list of books that address the myth of Christianity. This is not my bibliography but one that was sent to me from a email membership on the subject. I have put an asterisk by the ones I recommend. THE PAGAN JESUS The Jesus Puzzle. Did Christianity Begin with a Mythical Christ? :Challenging the Existence of an Historical Jesus Earl Doherty Canadian Humanist Publications; October 19; 1999 ISBN: 0968601405 (Paperback) *The Christ Conspiracy: The Greatest Story Ever Sold Acharya S Adventures Unlimited Press; September 1999 ISBN: 0932813747 (Paperback) Pagan Christs: Studies in Comparative Hierology John M. Robertson Kessinger Publishing Company; August 2003 ISBN: 0766180190 (Paperback) *Jesus Mysteries: Was the "Original Jesus" a Pagan God? Timothy Freke; Peter Gandy Crown Publishing Group; September 2001 ISBN: 060980798 (Paperback) World's Sixteen Crucified Saviors Kersey Graves; Foreword by Paul Tice The Book Tree; July 1999 ISBN: 1585090182 (Paperback) Aryan Sun-Myths the Origin of Religions (1889) Charles Morris Kessinger Publishing Company; April 1996 ISBN: 1564598934 (Paperback) Jesus: Pagan Christ or Jewish Messiah? Laurence E. Dalton; Shirley Strutton Dalton Xlibris Corporation; December 2000 ISBN: 073883369X (Paperback) The Book Your Church Doesn't Want You to Read Tim C. Leedom (Editor); Bill Jenkins (Introduction) Truth Seeker Company Inc; July 1993 ISBN: 0939040158 (Paperback) Astrological Foundation of the Christ Myth; Vol. 2 Malik H. Jabbar Rare Books Distributors; August 1997 ISBN: 1571540032 (Paperback) The Woman's Encyclopedia of Myths and Secrets Barbara G. Walker HarperCollins Publishers; November 1983 ISBN: 006250925X (Paperback) HISTORACITY OF JESUS & ORIGIN OF THE CHRISTIAN BIBLE You Take Jesus, I'll Take God: How to Refute Christian Missionaries Samuel Levine Hamoroh Press; June 1980 ISBN: 0960475419 (Paperback) Judaism's Truth Answers the Missionaries by Beth Moshe Bloch Pub Co; May 1997 ISBN: 0819705152 (Paperback) ISBN: 0819705209 (Hardcover) Antisemitism in the New Testament Lillian C. Freudmann Rowman & Littlefield; December 1993 ISBN: 0819192945 (Hardback) ISBN: 0819192953 (Paperback) Who Wrote the New Testament?: The Making of the Christian Myth Burton L. MacK HarperCollins; November 1995 ASIN: 0060655178 (Hardcover) Harper San Francisco; September 1996 ISBN: 0060655186 (Paperback) Faith Strengthened: The Jewish Answer to Christianity by Isaac Troki (Author), Moses Mocatta (Translator) KTAV Publishing House; June 1974 Out-of-Print ASIN: B00005VV74 The Jesus Myth George Albert Wells Open Court Publishing Company; October 1998 ISBN: 0812693922 (Paperback) Did Jesus exist? George Albert Wells Elek; 1975 ASIN: 0236310011 (Paperback) The Jesus of the Early Christians: a Study in Christian Origins George Albert Wells Pemberton; 1971 ASIN: 0301710147 (Unknown Binding) Forgery in Christianity: A Documented Record of the Foundations of the Christian Religion Joseph Wheless Kessinger Publishing Company; March 1997 ISBN: 1564592251 (Paperback) Putting Away Childish Things: The Virgin Birth, the Empty Tomb, and Other Fairy Tales You Don't Need to Believe to Have a Living Faith by Uta Ranke-Heinemann, Peter Heinegg (Translator) Publisher: HarperCollins; May 1994 ASIN: 0060668601 (Hardcover) WHO WAS THE REAL PAUL *The Mythmaker: Paul and the Invention of Christianity Hyam Maccoby Barnes & Noble; February 1998 ISBN: 0760707871 (Hardcover) Paul and Hellenism Hyam Z. Maccoby Trinity Press International; February 1991 ISBN: 1563380145 (Paperback) ASIN: 1563380145 (Paperback) (Out-of-print) Paul: Follower of Jesus or Founder of Christianity? David Wenham Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co; April 1995 ISBN: 0802801242 (Paperback)
"Many non-Christians seem to believe that, in order to be true, Christianity must be unique. This is utterly fallacious - if anything, the precise opposite is the case. If Christian doctrine were strange and deviant and had no similarities at all to that of other religious systems, it would be more likely to be a weird, aberrant construct, not less. To take one obvious example, a simple and economical explanation for the widespread human tendency to posit supernatural figures who, like Christ, mediate between man and God, is that humans correctly realise that we do need such a mediator. Hence, ironically, some of the scholars most eager to prove the existence of dying-rising gods in the ancient Near East and elsewhere were Christians" - Christianity and paganismThe list of books also make it very clear that you read them selectively. For instnace, at a recent talk, GA Wells made very clear that Paul believed Jesus had been a real Jewish man put to death by crucifixion. This contradicts people like Earl Doherty, who believes Paul made no reference to a real person, and who you also cite. Whom do you believe?
From what I've heard (not read directly), Acharya S. uses unconfirmed and sloppy sources, and she is generally an irresponsible author. Doherty, on the other hand, is highly recommended. The rest, I don't know about.
Actually, it implies only that our dear friend is capable of generating a selective bibliography, and offers no assurance that she has read any of them. It is a particularly childish and intellectually disingenuous argument. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
Yep, that's what I was gonna say. This just goes to show that we'll never be able to know the truth about events in the past. Even if someone is correct in their theory, there is no way to prove it because with as much evidence as that correct person may have, another will have just as much proof to refute them. Hell, even if one was there in the past to see Jesus, all that means it the person saw Jesus so that at least confirms his existance but that person still doesn't understand Jesus if he wasn't one of his disciples. And even if we talked to a disciple today, there may have been things Jesus hid from others and didn't share so next we'd have to have Jesus here, lol. When it comes to the past, all there is is probability. We will never know the truth but can only assume because of the things that point towards a certain way of thought. Heck, I can send you a blank white image of something and you would think it was just blank. Then all of a sudden you decode it and see that it's a polar bear in a snowstorm but then I still say you're wrong. It's actually a giant albino sloth in a snowstorm. Weee, close but no cigar! Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! Neva eva eva gonna know the truth. - N
Jesus was real enough but was the leader of an organisation dedicated to putting him on the throne of a roman free Judea. He only became the "son of god" 400 years after his death in a decree issued by the church in Rome. 40 gospels went missing in a massive re-write, in true hollywood fashion, by the church of Rome.
It disturbs me to see you so happy and content about it. Care to back any of that up? Bear in mind, the earliest surviving manuscript, which dates to around 125 AD reads: Therefore Pilate said to him, "Then you are a king?" Jesus answered, "You say that I am a king. For this I was born, and for this I have come into society: to witness to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth hears my voice." Pilate said to him, "What is truth?" After he had said this, he went out to the Judeans again, and he told them, "I find no crime in him." - KC Hanson and P52Also note that some texts referring to Jesus as the "Son of God" dates to at least 200 AD as well: Matthew 26 contains this: "The high priest said to him, "I charge you under oath by the living God: Tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God. "Yes, it is as you say," Jesus replied."", (p64, which is dated c.200). And so is John 1-21 (p66), which contains John 1:34 "I have seen and I testify that this is the Son of God." and John 20:31 "But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name."
Jenyar, I'm at a loss as to the relevancy of your post. I know of no one who would claim that Paul and/or John were fictive.
I was venting at Red Devil. I find it hard to stay silent in the face of such obvious ignorance. But I didn't say anything about Paul and John - except that they were writing about a real person, and not a fictive one.
Red_Devil wasn't claiming that Jesus wasn't real, just not the son of God. Jenyar was pointing out that they pre-date Red_Devil's claim that no one claimed he was the son of God until 400 years after his death.
Anyway, I think you'll agree that if relevance was any criterium at all, this thread shouldn't have existed in the first place.
Sadly enough, PM is the only one being accused of propaganda threads... Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
Jenyar, be careful here of believing translations "literally". The son of god can also be translated to read "son or follower of kings". Jesus was the direct descendant of David & Solomon, therefore royal blood, or sang real in french. His wife, Mary Magdelene was also of royal blood, being the daughter of a high nobleman. My point is that he was not made "the SON OF GOD" until 400 years later when the bible, and quotes contained therein, were amended, altered, deleted, added. In fact, the chruch in Rome REWROTE the entire damn thing!
Let's not forget Jesus Himself "admitted" to being God Red Devil Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! or was that the Church rewriting "the entire damn thing" just so they could fool themselves..?